Who you going to call? DUST BUSTERS!

Help us keep the air clear and the dust down on the fire road this summer.

The Advocates for the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, along with our partners in this project, Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks and California State Parks hope to improve the road again this year using Dust Off, an environmentally safe dust suppression solution.

With the early arrival of Spring, one can expect to enjoy the many wondrous things that come alive in the Forest of Nisene Marks.

But soon there will be an unwelcome visitor that casts a dark cloud on the fresh new vitality that Spring has to offer. Its presence will be felt and ingested until the winter rains come again – the dreaded airborne dust on the fire road.

Last year, through a collaborative effort of the Advocates for the Forest of Nisene Marks, The Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, and California State Parks, we were able to come up with $18,000 to re-grade the fire-road from the Kiosk to the Steel Bridge, lay down 500 tons of new base rock, and coat the road with an environmentally safe dust suppressant called “Dust-Off”. The results were enjoyed by every Park user; the in-holding residents, Park workers/volunteers, families with strollers, walkers, runners, cyclists and wanderers.

Unfortunately, this will be a yearly rite of Spring as long as the road remains a more natural, unpaved surface. The cost of getting the road ready and the application of the “Dust-Off is projected to be $14,000 for this year. The hope is that only 250 tons of additional baserock will be needed for this year’s road armoring.

State Parks hasn’t any money in their budget for this project and only 3 maintenance people to perform all of the work necessary to keep Nisene Marks, Sunset State Beach, The Castro Adobe, Manresa State Beach and Palm State Beach safe and beautiful.

This is where organizations like Friends and the Advocates have to step into the breach to make sure trails get maintained, un-safe bridges get repaired or replaced, trail signs gets updated and dust on the heavily used access road gets addressed. We do this through fund-raising and organizing volunteer trailwork days.

Nisene needs your help. Our current fundraising campaign for the Spring is focused on Dust Abatement on the Aptos Creek fire-road. We have raised $2,000 to date, leaving a balance of $12,500 for the project. Please consider donating whatever you can to help us “Bust the Dust” in the beautiful Forest of Nisene Marks!